The award was presented by HealthGrades, the nation’s leading independent physician and hospital evaluator, during a celebration in the hospital’s main lobby on Wednesday, Aug. 1.

Mon General Hospital celebrated two milestone achievements on Wednesday, Aug. 1: receiving the 2012 HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ and the opening of its new outpatient Endoscopy Center.

The celebration was held in the hospital’s main lobby for employees, and concluded with presentation of the award followed by tours of the Endoscopy Center. The new Endoscopy Center officially opens to its first patients on Monday, Aug. 6.

“Today we are taking a moment to recognize our talented and dedicated staff for receiving the HealthGrades 2012 Outstanding Patient Experience Award,” said Mon Health System President and CEO Darryl Duncan. “Mon General staff are the only ones in West Virginia to earn this award.

“It is gratifying to know that our patients have personally ranked us among the top hospitals in the United States,” Duncan said. “It is Mon General’s committed and caring staff that ensures that our patients and their families have a comfortable, safe and healing experience with us. This award recognizes that we do that better than any hospital in West Virginia and even most of the country.

“With this recognition, our patients are collectively saying ‘thank you’ to each staff member at Mon General,” he said.

Mon Health System Board of Directors Chairman Glenn Adrian noted that the celebration was for two distinctly different events, but with a common theme. “This common theme has to do with patient excellence. From a Board perspective, we’re very proud of the accomplishments on both fronts,’ he said.

“Having a separate suite for the endoscopy services here at the hospital will provide many advantages,” Adrian said. “First and foremost, anybody needing those services will be able to go to Endoscopy, be admitted, be prepped, be taken care of and be discharged without having to leave that area.” This was also accomplished recently in Orthopedics with the opening of new Orthopedic Center in January and, he noted that renovations are currently underway in the Cath Labs with similar goals.

“All these services that are being done are being done with the patient experience in mind,” he said. “There is nothing more important from the hospital perspective than the experience that our patients receive when they come here.”

“On behalf of all the board members, I want to offer heartfelt congratulations to all of you for this award and say how proud we are to be a part of this hospital,” Adrian said.

The outpatient Endoscopy Center features 14 all-private pre- and post-procedure rooms, four dedicated procedure rooms and the latest technology. Endoscopy involves looking inside the body for medical reasons using an endoscope, an instrument used to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body. Colonoscopy is one of the most widely known endoscopic procedures.

“Patients will experience a private, quiet environment with a professional staff dedicated to a single purpose – endoscopy,” Duncan said. “We anticipate this new space will not only make us more efficient, but the patient experience will be enhanced through reduced wait times and a shorter overall hospital stay.”

General Surgeon William Burns, MD, noted that when he joined the Mon General Hospital Medical Staff 15 years ago, the rooms in which endoscopy were performed were cramped and patients had to wait out in the hallway in screened off areas for privacy.

“This is a dramatic change,” Burns said. “It’s exciting, because, like everything we do at Mon General, it’s centered on our patients. It’s going to be a nice facility. It’s going to make all our lives in this area more efficient.”

“Our mission here isn’t real complex,” said Mon General Hospital Chief of Surgery Roberto Valenzuela, MD. “It’s just serving our community. The Endo Center is an additional step to provide the care that our community deserves.”

The celebration concluded with Jeff Wussow of HealthGrades presenting the 2012 HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ to Duncan as hospital staff looked on. The distinction ranks Mon General Hospital among the top 5% of hospitals nationwide based on an analysis of patient satisfaction data for 3,837 U.S. hospitals by HealthGrades. Mon General Hospital was the only hospital in West Virginia to receive the 2012 HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award™.

Wussow noted that HealthGrades is the nation’s most trusted independent evaluator of physician and hospital quality information. He noted that no hospital could opt in or out of HealthGrades’ evaluation.

“It takes the efforts of everyone within an organization to achieve something like this,” Wussow said. “It is a very special award and I am very happy to present it. Congratulations to the entire organization and everyone on staff here.”

According to HealthGrades, 80% of patients treated at the nation’s best-performing hospitals would definitely recommend them to family and friends, compared to only 53% of patients who received care from the poorest-performing hospitals.

Patients have a lot of positive things to say about the care they receive at Mon General Hospital.

“My treatment was absolutely first-rate,” said Bob Titchenal a Mon General Hospital patient from Bridgeport, WV. “Attitude means everything and I have never been around so many people with a positive attitude. Any time I get to tell someone about Mon General, I tell them that not only should Morgantown be proud, but West Virginia should be proud that we have such talented and professional people right here in our state.”

Morgantown Attorney Wes Metheney had triple bypass surgery at Mon General and also speaks highly of the care he received. “Each and every member of the hospital staff was polite, professional and caring,” he said. “I consider the entire unexpected event to have been so successful because of the dedicated professionals of Dr. Kee Lee’s cardiac team, the cardiologists, and the hospital staff involved in my care.”

Michael Fidler, MD of Clarksburg also had bypass surgery at Mon General after suffering a heart attack. “I’ve told a lot of people, top to bottom, my care was superb in so many ways.

“I was impressed with the professionalism and friendliness of the staff,” Dr. Fidler said. “Everyone knew exactly what they were doing. They were good to me, they worked together. I haven’t had any complications since.’